Six Chapters in Design: Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Ikko Tanaka, Henryk Tomaszewski

by Philip B. Meggs

Stylish and concise, this volume presents the work of six venerable names in modern design history. Featuring more than three hundred examples of their best work, yet still eminently portable, Six Chapters in Design is a charming model of economy. Each chapter begins with an essay by a fellow designer, or poet, or, in the case of Saul Bass, director Martin Scorsese, and closes with a biographical profile. Esteemed by designers around the world, these are the artists who created the identities of Warner, AT&T, IBM, ABC, UPS, and Westinghouse; film titles for The Shining and Cape Fear; posters; advertisements; and memorable images of every sort. Their work, nearly omnipresent in everyday life, has influenced an entire culture. This dynamic compendium is a smart resource for designers and artists working in any medium.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art Design

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Philip Baxter Meggs was an American graphic designer, professor, historian and author of books on graphic design. His book History of Graphic Design is a definitive, standard read for the study of graphic design.
He has been called the most important historian of design since Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-1983). In contrast to Pevsner, he published a history of graphic design that went beyond the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One of the first educators to create an overview of the history of graphic design that did not depend exclusively on the traditional structure of the history of the art, Meggs believed that graphic design would need to acquire an adequate understanding of the past and its relation with art.

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really interesting and I enjoyed looking at all of the cool art!!! However I wish the designers weren't all men :( where my ladies at
also I wish there were more info included on the individual works, especially the more famous ones.

[Jaime Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the world of design, talk is cheap. In this book, that theory is practiced and proven multiple times through the showing of work from six design gods of our time: Bass, Chermayeff, Glaser, Rand, Tanaka and Tomaszewski. Rather than bore you with a lot of details, I'll just say this: it's a fat little book in full color that shows an example of the designer's work on every page, from beginning to end. It is printed on thick, luxurious slick semi-gloss paper. It is a designer's dream!

The book was out of print for a little while, but now it appears to be back. A first edition will cost $200, but I've seen later editions on Amazon for as little as $16. Well worth it. There are over 300 different designs in the book and it is a mind bending experience to see them all. If you're a designer, or if you are the type who appreciates design concepts, this is the book for you. Great eye candy, you'll love it.

Note: all of the designs were created before the days of CGI graphics, so it's definitely an "old school" book, but the designs hold up over time and are still delightful to view.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting chapter, to me, was Milton Glaser's as he showed a sketch next to the finished piece. It was fun to see the final design compared to the original idea.

[Melissa Brunet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, short & sweet overview of some of the Greats to come back to often.